What does "SOS" mean on the display?

[wickcity]

I dropped my Pearl on the pavement and picked it up and it has sos displayed in red color in the upper right corner. Right where the signal bars and edge are. I do have a BSE on my phone. It landed flat as a pancake on display part of my phone.

I tried to place a phone call but it wouldn't work. I got a message that read something like, this phone is for emergency calls only. I powered off the phone and turned it back on, it seems to be working now. At least on a couple of calls I've made since the phone hit the pavement.

But what does SOS mean?

[technoevil]

SOS displays when you are roaming on a network that Cingular does not have an agreement and you can only use it to make 911 calls.

[I have a phone]

it's camped on a network that does not allow you service other than an emergency call

[efparri]

I dropped my Pearl on the pavement and picked it up and it has sos displayed in red color in the upper right corner. Right where the signal bars and edge are. I do have a BSE on my phone. It landed flat as a pancake on display part of my phone.

I tried to place a phone call but it wouldn't work. I got a message that read something like, this phone is for emergency calls only. I powered off the phone and turned it back on, it seems to be working now. At least on a couple of calls I've made since the phone hit the pavement.

But what does SOS mean?

SOS is the old telegraphic Morse code for help. This means that your phone could not register on the network and could only make emergency calls to 911 or 611. You would also get this if you have no SIM card in the phone. The fall might have caused the SIM card to shift slightly in its housing.

[veriztd]

I personally think the phone is just crying for help. Three words of advice "seek professional help".

[ilvla2]

SOS is the old telegraphic Morse code for help. This means that your phone could not register on the network and could only make emergency calls to 911 or 611. You would also get this if you have no SIM card in the phone. The fall might have caused the SIM card to shift slightly in its housing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SOS

[blacksrt4guy]

I personally think the phone is just crying for help. Three words of advice "seek professional help".

LOL


Just means your SIM card came loose. Ive had this happen a few times. Take the back off, take the SIM out, put it back and youre good.

[pianoman41]

I cannot believe the number of people that don't know what SOS means. I thought (and apparently so does the majority of cell phone manufactures) that just about everyone understood the maritime Morse code meaning of 'Help'.

As a supervisor in a regional 911 cellular PSAP, we got dozens of calls *daily* from people saying 'Uhhh, my phone says 'Call SOS' so I did, what does it mean?' We waste a lot of valuable airtime trying to school people to RTFM or contact their cell provider to figure out how to use their phone.

[en4rcer]

I cannot believe the number of people that don't know what SOS means. I thought (and apparently so does the majority of cell phone manufactures) that just about everyone understood the maritime Morse code meaning of 'Help'.

As a supervisor in a regional 911 cellular PSAP, we got dozens of calls *daily* from people saying 'Uhhh, my phone says 'Call SOS' so I did, what does it mean?' We waste a lot of valuable airtime trying to school people to RTFM or contact their cell provider to figure out how to use their phone.

Or worse yet, we get calls at our PSAP from cell callers demanding we restore their cell phone service - usually after they have made a W911 call on their cell phone only to find the "Emergency Only" message on their phone. We just tell them to power-cycle their phone and usually all is well.

[SprintNewbie]

... --- ...

[Hook Man]

Or worse yet, we get calls at our PSAP from cell callers demanding we restore their cell phone service - usually after they have made a W911 call on their cell phone only to find the "Emergency Only" message on their phone. We just tell them to power-cycle their phone and usually all is well.

We get the same thing here and I tell them to call thier provider lol

[pianoman41]

Or worse yet, we get calls at our PSAP from cell callers demanding we restore their cell phone service - usually after they have made a W911 call on their cell phone only to find the "Emergency Only" message on their phone. We just tell them to power-cycle their phone and usually all is well.

Yes, that is so annoying. They tell us to "release" their phone and we tell them to go read the manual. Or we tell them to shut it off, wait about an hour for it to "clear" and then turn it on again. That'll learn 'em.

[ALCingularUser]

Yes, that is so annoying. They tell us to "release" their phone and we tell them to go read the manual. Or we tell them to shut it off, wait about an hour for it to "clear" and then turn it on again. That'll learn 'em.

You should tell them that you can't help them, but you'd be glad to dispatch a nice police officer who will be glad to assist them and provide them with a citation...er...invoice for using the 911 center in such a way.

[CA]

Or Cingular could have the screen read something like "No Cingular service" or if they still choose to obfuscate it could say "NCS", but of course then the CS lines would flood!

ob·fus·cate (ŏb'fə-skāt', ŏb-fŭs'kāt')
tr.v., -cat·ed, -cat·ing, -cates.
To make so confused or opaque as to be difficult to perceive or understand: “A great effort was made . . . to obscure or obfuscate the truth” (Robert Conquest).
To render indistinct or dim; darken: The fog obfuscated the shore.

That's the reality...get it!